Like most energy-market observers, Doomberg newsletter stared at their phones with interest on Friday 28th of August 2026 evening when US President Donald Trump once again used his Truth Social account to make a rather surprising announcement :
“BREAKING NEWS : The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY ! At my direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, working closely with Highly Respected Interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, and, through a partnership with private business, have secured majority U.S. control of more than 65 BILLION BARRELS of proven Oil Reserves in Venezuela, at no cost to the American Taxpayer. This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward Tremendous Success and Great Prosperity. This Transaction will greatly strengthen the already growing relationship between Venezuela and the United States ! Thank you for your attention to this groundbreaking matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN ! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Predictably, interpretations of the president’s missive, in all its randomly capitalized glory, depended heavily on the preexisting views of those doing the interpreting. Venezuelan opposition leaders panned the move as raw colonialist extraction. Iranians mocked President Donald Trump as being forced to pick on somebody his own size. The president’s die-hard supporters lauded the post as proof of his formidable capacity to play multidimensional chess, while his ardent domestic political opponents took a predictably indignant stance, with Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen tweeting, “Let’s be clear : this isn’t a win. This is proof President Donald Trump put our service members at risk to get Venezuelan oil for his billionaire buddies.”
As with most things President Donald Trump, the whole truth cannot be found on Truth, nor does imposing one’s own political biases onto the headlines help elucidate it. It didn’t take long, however, for the broad strokes of the deal to leak to the press and for the identity of the “private business” alluded to in Trump’s post to become known. With these revelations, a pattern is emerging that risks being lost in the partisan mud-raking. If Doomberg newsletter is correct, the US State Department and the Pentagon are leveraging their vast global network of indirect financial resources to bolster a realm of US geopolitical power long under Chinese threat. Whether it succeeds remains to be seen, but few can criticize its boldness.
To conclude, Let’s explore what Doomberg newsletter think is really going on and why Van Hollen just might be wrong.
